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Saturday, September 17, 2022
Reached by The Tyee, the bully caught on video echoes messages fomented by right-wing politicians. Expect more threats, says an expert.
Charles Rusnell
The Grande Prairie man who verbally attacked and intimidated Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland on Friday told The Tyee he is proud of his behaviour and isn’t concerned by the public condemnation of those who say he is a deluded conspiracy theorist, a bully and a coward.
“Why did I do that? Because I want the rest of the country to wake up and realize that she is a traitor to the country. She is selling out the country,” Elliot McDavid said in a phone interview Saturday.
A political scientist told The Tyee he expects aggressive attacks on politicians to increase in Canada as right-wing politicians continue to engage in “rage farming” by advancing false and misleading conspiracy narratives.
“They know how to feed those narratives,” said University of Alberta political scientist Jared Wesley.
“It is little half-truths, sometimes more blatant lies, that kind of plant the seeds for this rage farming,” he said.
Freeland, according to her official itinerary, had been in Grande Prairie to meet with local farmers and skilled tradespeople. She was at city hall to meet with Mayor Jackie Clayton.
In a video posted by one of his associates on Friday, McDavid, a big-bearded man dressed in a white sleeveless T-shirt, is seen approaching Freeland as she was about to enter an elevator at Grande Prairie’s city hall.
McDavid calls Freeland’s name, she stops and acknowledges him and he shouts, “What the fuck are you doing in Alberta?”
Freeland and her entourage of women enter the elevator and McDavid continues shouting: “Get the fuck out of this province,” he says, later twice calling her a traitor and a fucking bitch and a c***. Freeland did not respond.
McDavid is then confronted by a man who tells him to leave the building and McDavid gets in the man’s face, telling him not to touch him. Out in the parking lot, McDavid and a woman gleefully celebrate the attack on Freeland.
In the interview with The Tyee, McDavid, one of the organizers of a truck convoy in Grande Prairie, ranted about the Trudeau government being part of a conspiracy involving the World Economic Forum. He also claimed the government was trying to starve the public by forcing fertilizer limitations on farmers and was killing thousands of people, including children, with vaccinations.
“I’m a proud Canadian and I have had enough,” McDavid said, mouthing a trope favoured by conspiracy theorists who view themselves as patriots while viewing the rest of the population as unquestioning sheep.
Asked what he would say to those people who are calling him a thug, and a bully and coward for attacking Freeland, McDavid said, “They got problems. Tell them to go get another vaccine.”
Asked what he would say to those people who say he is too stupid and gullible to realize he has bought into bizarre conspiracy theories, McDavid said:
“I’m fighting for the country and the people, unlike the media, unlike the government,” he said, adding that people won’t wake up until it is too late.
This latest attack on Freeland is part of ongoing verbal harassment and physical intimidation of politicians by protesters, many of whom harbour far-right anti-vaccination conspiracy theories and believe the government is taking away their freedoms.
During the federal election last September, a man threw gravel at Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during a campaign stop in London, Ontario. Trudeau has had to cancel public appearances due to security concerns.
In May, federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh was aggressively verbally harassed by protesters in Peterborough, Ontario.
After Friday’s attack, politicians of all stripes, including Alberta Premier Jason Kenney, condemned the harassment of Freeland.
“The verbal harassment and threats directed at Minister @cafreeland during her visit to Alberta yesterday is reprehensible,” Kenney tweeted. “If you disagree with a politician, by all means, exercise your right to protest. But screaming threatening language [and] intimidation cross the line.”
But political scientist Jared Wesley said it is politicians like Kenney, Conservative leadership candidate Pierre Poilievre and UCP leadership candidate Danielle Smith who are actively advancing narratives that serve to encourage this behaviour.
Even before former U.S. president Donald Trump brought his brand of populist politics to the world, he said politicians in Canada were stoking resentment of so-called elites.
“This time around, it’s not just anti-elitism, it’s what we call anti-pluralism,” Wesley said, explaining that United Conservative Party politicians in Alberta in particular advance the narrative that there are “pure people out there, pure Albertans.”
And so when people like Freeland come to their town, they are targets for abuse because they are not viewed as real Albertans or real Canadians, he said. Freeland is from Peace River, Alberta, north of Grande Prairie.
Danielle Smith Isn’t Nuts, Says Kenney. Just Her Policies
All three politicians have, for example, been pushing the narrative that Trudeau is somehow attempting to punish farmers by searching for ways to lower emissions from fertilizer.
Smith in particular, has made numerous statements about how vaccine mandates were an unnecessary intrusion on people’s freedoms and she has threatened to fire the board of Alberta Health Services and the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta.
She has advanced the idea of an Alberta Sovereignty Act that she says would allow Alberta to opt out of federal laws, including those governing guns.
“What these narratives do for conspiracy theorists, is that it helps them make sense of, first of all, complex things that don’t otherwise make sense; it’s boiled down into something really simple,” Wesley said.
“And secondly, it gives [conspiracy theorists] an out of sorts, where it allows them to see other people as being either the source of their problems or as being less moral or less worthy.”
As part of his ongoing political research, Wesley has been conducting focus groups around rural Alberta and he said people just want to be heard, to have their views listened to.
This Is ‘Kenneyism’
Ironically, he said, this extreme behaviour by people like McDavid will make it less likely that politicians will come to hear them out in their communities because they don’t wish to be abused and they legitimately fear for their safety.
When an incident like the attack on Freeland happens, it takes a politician away from the message they were there to deliver.
“So this creates a spiral; a populist spiral where people say they are not listening to us.” Wesley said. “Well, of course, they are not listening to you. Look at what is happening when they try to listen. It is just a self-perpetuating cycle.”
The Dangerous Rewiring of Canadians’ Minds
Wesley said the escalating harassment of politicians is dangerous. He referenced the 2016 murder of Jo Cox, a British labour politician who was shot and stabbed repeatedly by a man who wanted to advance white supremacism and nationalism.
“It is dangerous,” he said. “People are saying, ‘Well [Freeland] should be travelling with security.’ But that is a short-term solution.
“I hate to be a pessimist, but I think it is only going to get worse before it gets better.”
On Saturday, Freeland tweeted she will keep coming back “because Alberta is home, and because I want to keep meeting with Albertans from across this great province and visiting my family and friends here.
“What happened yesterday is wrong. Nobody, anywhere, should have to put up with threats and intimidation,” Freeland said, adding that she met many warm and welcoming people in Alberta and “one unpleasant incident doesn’t change that.”
15 September, 2022
The unionists were arrested on their way to a peaceful a protest, calling on the United Nations to recognize the National Unity Government of Myanmar and its permanent representative at the UN, U Kyaw Moe Tun.
A group of security officers in plain clothes appeared, using sticks to beat the protestors and firing a few shots.
29 protestors were arrested, including a few student and youth activists. Daw Zuu Zuu Ra Khaing and Daw Yamin Kay Thwe Khaig from IWFM, U Nay Min Tun and U Than Aung from Building and Wood Workers Federation of Myanmar (BWFM), and the driver of the Confederation of Trade Unions of Myanmar (CTUM) U Than Zaw, were among the 29.
CTUM president Maung Maung has issued a press statement condemning the inhuman and cruel attack, expressing his respect for the revolutionary comrades who are devoted to the non-violent democratic struggle.
“We demand that the illegitimate junta releases all protestors immediately. The international community must take action quickly, or the protestors will be interrogated and tortured by the military. Please support the democratic struggle of Myanmar workers; a peaceful protest is not a crime,”
says IWFM president Khaing Zar.
This is not the first violent attack against IndustriALL members in Myanmar. The junta killed a member of Mining Workers' Federation of Myanmar (MWFM), Chan Myae Kyaw, in March 2021.
Five months ago, a military vehicle rammed into a taxi carrying unionists, CTUM staff Khaing Thinzar Aye and IWFM member Ei Phyu Phyu Myint are still detained.
"The Myanmar junta must stop oppressing the people and workers. We wholeheartedly support the demand of the protestors that the NUG must be recognized at the 77th session of the United Nations General Assembly,”
says IndustriALL general secretary Atle Høie.
The 77th session of the UNGA is convening on 13-26 September. Together with other global unions, IndustriALL is urging the credentials committee and the general assembly to recognize NUG as the legitimate government.
IndustriALL is continuing its campaign for comprehensive economic sanctions against the Myanmar junta and that companies divest from Myanmar.
13 September, 2022
Seven months ago, EIEUNR exposed union busting at Molex Malaysia, who are a supplier to tech giant Apple, as workers were preparing for a secret ballot on joining IndustriALL affiliate EIEUNR.
Management organized a town hall meeting with workers, threatening them not to vote for the union, or else they risk losing bonus and benefits.
The Industrial Relations Department initiated an investigation and put the secret ballot on hold. EIEUNR submitted a voice recording containing the threats of the company management, but has since declined the department’s request for interviews, as it may expose the unionists to further intimidation.
“We urge brothers and sisters all over the world to support this online petition. Without a win in the secret ballot the workers are denied their right to bargain collectively. The union busting is violating Malaysian law as well as international labour standards, but so far no stern action has been taken against the company,”
says EIEUNR general secretary David Arulappen.
“It is outrageous that Molex workers cannot enjoy the right to freely choose their own union. There is clear evidence of workers' rights being denied and Molex should address it immediately. At the same time, IndustriALL reminds Apple to check their own code of conduct about respect of workers’ rights in their supply chain and make sure EIEUNR is voluntary recognized without further delay at the Molex site in Penang,“
says IndustriALL electrical and electronics director Alexander Ivanou.
Molex is a multinational company focussing on electrical, electronics and fiber optic products. The company's code of conduct states that it adheres to the non-discrimination principle and lawful employment practices, including respect for workers' freedom of association. Apple is one of Molex’ major customers.
Kenya glass workers win after strike for living wages and safety gear
15 September, 2022
According to the collective agreement the company will pay the minimum wages of 15201 Kenyan Shillings (US$125) as announced by the government and provide work suits and safety boots. In May, the minimum wages were increased by twelve per cent, which the workers say is not enough to cater for living expenses. However, in addition to the twelve per cent, the employer agrees to further increases of five per cent per year in the next two years, and that the workers will receive housing allowances.
KGWU said one of the clauses in the collective agreement stresses that in the case of an injury caused by an accident at work, an employee will be entitled to compensation in accordance with the provisions of the Work Injury and Benefit Act (2007). Further, personal protective equipment that includes uniforms and overalls and safety boots will be provided free of charge to workers. The agreement also includes clauses to protect workers’ rights to maternity and paternity leave as well as retirement.
The agreement also establishes an occupational health and safety committee made up of the employer and union representative as per the labour laws. On HIV and AIDS, workers are protected against discrimination by the employer that is based on their HIV status. Further, awareness campaigns will be carried out on HIV and AIDS.
Maurice Okoth, general secretary of the KGWU says:
“Most of the workers at FEAC are casual workers, and the union is recruiting and organizing them. We are demanding that the casual workers be given permanent jobs so that they can enjoy job security and the other benefits that we negotiated in the collective bargaining agreement.”
“With the rising cost of living in Kenya, wages must also be increased to enable workers to look after their families. We commend KGWU for demanding better wages. Additionally, implementing occupational health and safety at work standards at FEAC is important for accident prevention and a safe working environment,”
says Paule France Ndessomin, IndustriALL regional secretary for Sub Saharan Africa.
FEAC is a Nairobi based Chinese owned company that manufactures aluminium and glass products for the construction industry.
South Asia’s wage crisis
14 September, 2022
According to the ILO Global Wage Report 2020-2021, labour productivity in South Asia rose between 2010 and 2019, but actual minimum wage growth trailed behind. Sri Lanka and Bangladesh have seen the biggest declines in real minimum wages globally. The report also highlights that in 2019, minimum wage in Bangladesh did not even reach the lowest international poverty line. Wages in India and Sri Lanka were also close to the mark.
Union experience show that even in workplaces where workers can negotiate a long-term wage settlement, in reality employers delay for months and sometimes years before finalizing the agreement. By then the wage rise has already fallen behind the inflation it was supposed to neutralize.
IndustriALL affiliates have relentlessly worked to secure better pay for workers. In Pakistan, after a sustained campaign by IndustriALL affiliates and workers in the carpet industry, the Punjab government announced a wage increase of 2,500 PKR (US$14) in June 2021. But the workers’ struggle did not end there as, despite the government order, employers refused to comply. It took six months before employers agreed to increase wages.
In August 2022, Pakistani affiliates stopped work for over a month in Faisalabad to demand a 16 per cent rise in wages, given the soaring inflation in the country. Pakistan's inflation rate shot up to 27.26 per cent in August, as the country struggled with massive floods compounding already surging prices.
Niaz Khan, general secretary of ILUCIP, says:
“Workers’ wages are not sufficient to meet the rising prices of food and fuel. Employers and governments must acknowledge this and take strong steps to address the issue.”
In Sri Lanka, affiliates have demanded a wage increase of LKR10,000 (US$34) for workers whose monthly salary is below LKR60,000 (US$206), and that the minimum wage should be raised from LKR16,000 (US$55) to LKR26,000 (US$89) per month. The demands have yet to be met. Food inflation in the country reached 93.7 per cent in August. According to the latest World Bank assessment, Sri Lanka is ranked fifth among the ten countries with the highest food price inflation in the world. Affiliates are organizing community kitchen programmes to address the massive food inflation.
Bangladeshi affiliates have demanded an increase in the national minimum wage, which was last revised four years ago and currently stands at 8000 BDT (US$84).
In Nepal, people have taken to the streets to protest a surge in food and fuel prices.
Contract workers at Singareni Collieries Company Limited in India, who earn a fraction of what permanent workers do, called for an indefinite strike for over their demands, which include a wage increase and regularisation of work.
SQ Zama, general secretary of Indian National Mine Workers’ Federation, says:
“It's a very sad situation that while company profits are soaring, workers’ salaries are increasing at a sluggish rate. What makes matters worse is that even for a modest wage increase, workers have to put up a strong fight.”
Apoorva Kaiwar, south-Asia regional secretary of IndustriALL, says:
“Representing workers, we need to fight to ensure that workers get their rightful share in profits. We cannot accept that on one hand profits are soaring while on the other hand workers’ wages are not sufficient to maintain decent standards of living.”
Photo: copyright : Marcel Crozet / ILO
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Friday, September 16, 2022
Saleen Martin, USA TODAY 9/8/2022
A discovery that would've been quite huge, literally, got people talking this week about an extinct shark that lived millions of years ago, the megalodon.
Researchers from the Atlantic Shark Institute, a Rhode Island based nonprofit that works in shark research and conservation, picked up a shape on its sonar fish finder that looked like the megalodon, also known as the meg.
Jon Dodd from the Atlantic Shark Institute took the photo three weeks ago just south of Block Island, Rhode Island.
The shape appeared for several minutes, but soon transitioned into something else.
The culprit?
A school of Atlantic mackerel. The fish "hung around the boat for about 15 minutes," the researchers wrote in a Facebook post Sunday.
"So close, but so far," the post read. "The Megalodon (Otodus megalodon), disappeared more than 3 million years ago and will likely stay that way, but, for a few minutes, we thought he had returned!"
The researchers also wrote that the figure eventually looked like "90% of all the schools we see offshore."
"Just happened to take the shape of a shark for about 2 minutes," they wrote.
What drove the megalodon to extinction? The great white shark may have
Sharks: 'The find of a lifetime': 8-year-old boy discovers giant shark tooth in South Carolina
The post amassed just over 40 comments, including some jokes and more scientific approaches.
One Facebook user wondered if the shape was some sort of adaptation the mackerel made to discourage hunters like whales and dolphins, asking if it could be sonar mimicry.
The megalodon was one of the largest predators that ever lived up until its extinction 3.6 million years ago, according to the Natural History Museum in the United Kingdom. Researchers believe it grew to between 50 and 60 feet long. Because of its large teeth, experts think it feasted on whales and large fish, and probably other sharks.
Nonetheless, the researchers don't think the shark is coming back anytime soon.
"While it would be equal parts fascinating, and terrifying, I don’t think we are going to see the return of the meg," the institute replied to one social media user.
Joe Biden Thinks a Rail Strike has Been Averted. Do Rail Workers?
Just after 5 a.m. on Thursday, Marty Walsh tweeted that the railroad companies and the railroad unions had come to a tentative agreement, less than 19 hours from a potential shutdown:
“Moments ago, following more than 20 consecutive hours of negotiations at [the Department of Labor], the rail companies and union negotiators came to a tentative agreement that balances the needs of workers, businesses, and our nation’s economy. The Biden Administration applauds all parties for reaching this hard-fought, mutually beneficial deal. Our rail system is integral to our supply chain, and a disruption would have had catastrophic impacts on industries, travelers and families across the country.”
By 11:30 a.m., Joe Biden was in the White House Rose Garden, declaring victory: “This is a win for tens of thousands of rail workers and for their dignity and the dignity of their work, it’s a recognition of that.”
As the President turned to leave, a reporter called out a question: “Mr. President, is it premature to celebrate before the unions vote?”
Strictly speaking, the answer is yes. The signed tentative agreement now goes out for a ratification vote to the members of 12 different rail unions.
Per the Railway Labor Act, a new tentative agreement means a new cooling-off period, so the midnight deadline was mooted as part of the deal. But a contract rejection is still a very live possibility, based on discussions with members and leaders of various unions involved. So a strike (or lockout) is still on the table.
WHAT’S IN THE DEAL?
The actual language agreed upon by the National Carriers’ Conference Committee and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen and SMART-TD bargaining committees has not been released to the public nor to the membership, to some members’ frustration. So we can only speculate based on press releases and officials’ public comments.
But the general consensus is that the deal makes two main improvements upon the Presidential Emergency Board (PEB) recommendations (which the holdout unions, BLET and SMART-TD, refused to accept, and which the Brotherhood of Railway Signalmen’s general chairmen and the Machinists District Lodge 19’s membership both voted to reject).
One is the addition of some number of unpaid sick days. Time-off policies in general and sick time in particular have been a focus of discussion. During negotiations, union leaders told the Washington Post, they abandoned their demand for 15 paid sick days, but maintained that “members should be allowed to attend routine medical appointments without jeopardizing their employment.”
Per the BLET/SMART-TD press release after the deal was announced, the agreement contains “contract language exempting time off for certain medical events from carrier attendance policies,” but the release doesn’t specify a particular number of days or which medical events are covered.
The other improvement in the deal is a limit to health care cost increases. The PEB agreement recommended that workers should pay 15 percent of health care premium payments. Currently, railroad workers pay about $230 per month for both family and individual plans.
This deal has workers paying the 15 percent, but a release from the Brotherhood of Railway Signalmen says it caps the monthly amount workers will pay at $398.97.
The BLET/SMART-TD release doesn’t mention the cap, just that “no additional increases will apply to our monthly contributions while the parties bargain over the next National Agreement.” Which is to say, there will be no premium increases from 2024 (the end of the term of this tentative agreement) until the next agreement is ratified (which could be months or years).
The deal, as announced by the rail employers, was negotiated to cover the BLET, SMART-TD, and BRS, all of whom were facing the midnight deadline with no deal or extension in place. But most if not all of the other rail unions have a “me-too” clause in their contracts, or otherwise understand the additions to apply to their contracts as well.
VOTING BLIND
Members in most unions haven’t received much if any official communication about the timeline of the extended cooling-off period, voting periods, or renewed strike authorizations.
A general chairman of the BMWE said on a membership call that by mid-afternoon on Thursday, 10 hours after Walsh’s announcement, the union’s headquarters said it didn’t have the final language of the deal. Nor had any tentative agreement language been released as of Friday afternoon.
A SMART-TD statement today says that the language is still being reviewed by both sides’ attorneys and a finalized TA will not be presented to the union’s general chairpersons until sometime next week, so “anyone who states that they have seen a final copy of the TA, have a copy of the final TA or knows the final contents of the agreement is not being truthful.”
Two unions appear to have set voting timelines. The BMWE plans to send mail ballots, and begin electronic and telephone voting, on Tuesday, September 20, with a vote count scheduled for October 10. The Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen announced a similar timeline.
A member of the Boilermakers said the union leadership told members to use previously mailed ballots based on their PEB-based tentative agreement in order to vote on the new tentative agreement—though some members had already returned those
Some members of the Machinists District Lodge 19, who voted to reject a tentative agreement before the Walsh-brokered updates were announced, were under the impression that their cooling-off period was still set to end September 29, the date the union set (without a membership vote) in its contract rejection announcement. That was also the date the IBEW was set to announce its vote count. These timelines may have shifted with the announcement of new tentative agreements.
An anonymous local BLET leader said that the union planned to delay voting until October 15 to November 17, and extend the cooling-off period to December 9.
The leadership of the Transport Workers Union (TWU), which represents about 700 carmen under the Transportation Communications Union (TCU) contract but does not have signatory power according to an agreement from the 1990s, sent a letter to the TCU to emphasize that “TWU local presidents and officers did not participate in the contract balloting process. Instead, they chose to remain in unity with our Brothers and Sisters in the BLET, SMART-TD, and BRS who are fighting for improvements.”
Presumably, TCU will not hold a new round of balloting, having already voted to accept the tentative agreement based on the PEB.
CAN IT PASS?
So has a rail strike been averted? In 1992, the last national rail shutdown, it took just one union, the Machinists, on one rail line, CSX, to strike and cause a crisis on the rails.
Only one union would have to vote down the TA and reach the end of a cooling-off period to shut down a substantial amount of freight rail traffic. According to a Railroad Workers United survey of 3,162 rail workers before the latest TA, over 90 percent said they would vote down a contract based on the PEB deal, and 96 percent supported striking at the end of a cooling-off period.
According to internal SMART-TD polling data obtained by Labor Notes, 78 percent of members think the union should “reject the PEB (potential self-help/strike) and ultimately let Congress decide the National Rail Contract.”
Obviously, things have changed with the new deal. But the relatively minor nature of the additions and lack of specific contract language doesn’t bode well for the 40-point swing needed to ratify these agreements.
One thing that might weigh heavily is rail workers’ assessments of the role Congress might play in a redo. Some rail workers are dismayed that just one Senator, Independent Bernie Sanders, stepped in to halt the implementation of the PEB by Congressional action.
“I’m not willing to take a second run at Congress when literally every Democratic senator sat on their hands while Republicans sought to impose the PEB,” an anonymous BLET member told me. “I and many more feel like political pawns—we don’t want a second beating.”
Others think things could change after the midterm elections—either the Democrats would feel less pressure to avert a strike once the elections have passed, or newly elected Republicans would soon be in a better position to implement a worse deal.
Politico reported that Walsh, the morning of the settlement, said, “It’s like, Holy Christ: The magnitude of what would have happened. We’ll never fully understand, thank God.”
For better or worse, the Labor Secretary may be wrong.
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